Mount Carmel

The Mount Carmel (in Hebrew: הר הכרמל‎ Har HaCarmel; in Arabic: جبل الكارمل‎ Jabal al-Karmil) is a mountain range in Israel on the Mediterranean Sea. It is triangular in shape, measures about 26 km long and about 7 km wide, and its maximum height is about 550 m. Its coordinates are 32° 50' north latitude and 35º east longitude. Much of the city of Haifa is located on Mount Carmel, as well as other small cities such as Nesher or Tirat Karmel, which are part of the Haifa metropolitan area. In Christian tradition, the place is known for the appearance of the Virgin of Carmen.

A Syrian philosopher from the 3rd-4th centuries AD. C. called Iamblichus wrote that Mount Carmel was "the holiest of all mountains." The caves located on Mount Carmel (Nahal Me'arot Caves) were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012.

Inspired by the prophet Elijah, during the 12th century, a group of men (probably hermits or crusaders) founded the Order of Carmelites on Mount Carmel. These would bring to the world in successive centuries the now widespread devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, commonly referred to as Virgen del Carmen.

Toponymy

The word Carmel has been interpreted to mean: "land-garden" of uncertain origin.

Traditionally it is said that Karmel (כרמל Krml) comes from Krm-Ēl (כרמ-אל) and means "vineyards of Ēl", Ēl is a title for God in Judaism and means God or mighty. Another option is that the "L" (ל) at the end, expands its meaning with a place of fruit orchards in general, and means region rich in vineyards and orchards.

According to the interpretation, the letters (כ) K and (ק) Q are homophones and alternate with each other. Therefore, Karmel also appears in the form of Qarmel (קרמל) name of a vegetable of the luffa plant, which reinforces the connection between the place/vegetable name - Karmel/Qarmel - and the color green.

History

According to historians, Vespasian consulted in him (Notes from the Messianic Israelite Kadosh Translation, by Diego de Ascunce [2003]) The Catholic religious order of the Carmelites was founded on Mount Carmel in the 12th century by a group, it is unknown whether pilgrims, hermits or crusaders. The order grew to become one of the largest Catholic religious orders. Carmelite tradition suggests that a community of Jewish hermits lived on Mount Carmel in the time of the prophet Elijah although there is no documentary evidence that such a community existed.

During the Great War, Mount Carmel took on an important strategic role. The Battle of Megiddo, which took place in its vicinity, was the turning point that tilted the faithful towards the British side.

A step between the summit of Mount Carmel that gives entrance to the Jezreel Valley, where the Battle of Armageddon will take place according to some Christian interpretations.

At the foot of Mount Carmel in the heart of Haifa is the Shrine of the Báb, the site where the mortal remains of the prophet The Báb were buried in 1909 and whose external structure was completed in the 1950s. This mausoleum is surrounded by eighteen garden terraces, adjacent to the Bahá'í World Center, and form the administrative and spiritual center of the Bahá'í World Community. The location of both was designated by Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, in the Tablet of Carmel. The Sanctuary of the Báb is one of the main tourist attractions in Haifa. The mountain is sacred and a place of pilgrimage for Bahá'ís around the world. In addition, since 2008 they represent a World Heritage Site.

The current groups of Essenes pointed out that Mount Carmel was the spiritual fortress of the temple B'nai-Amen, of the Essene movements of the north - the "Nazarenes" - described by Epiphanius of Salamis, Father of the Church, in his Panarion (1:18) and briefly noted by the historian Flavius Josephus in his War of the Jews. Excavations on Mount Carmel in 1958 uncovered what appears to be the altar of Elijah, the cave where he lived and the fountain of Elijah, and the remains of an ancient monastery.

Biblical narrative

Due to the lush vegetation on the sloping slope and many caves on the steeper side, Mount Carmel became a favorite haunt of criminals. The densely wooded Carmel was seen as a hiding place, as hinted at in the Book of Amos.

According to the Books of Kings, Elisha traveled to Carmel immediately after cursing a group of young men for calling him bald. When Elisha was traveling to Bethel a group of young men shouted at him, Come up, bald man! Come up, bald man! Elisha turned around and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Suddenly two bears came out of the forest and attacked them, tearing 42 of them to pieces. This does not necessarily imply that Elisha sought asylum there due to possible backlash, although the description in the Book of Amos of the place as a refuge is dated by textual scholars as predating the accounts of Elisha in the Books of Amos. the Kings.

The Tanakh mentions that the Israelites worshiped Baal, a god associated with rain, thunder and fertility. Yahweh in his jealousy sends a drought to the Kingdom of Israel, as the drought struck Israel, Elijah requests that the 450 high priests of Baal gather at the top of Mount Carmel. On the mountain they kill an ox, the god who invoked fire to the sacrifice will be the true one, the priests called Baal, but nothing happened, instead Elijah called Yahweh and he sent lightning and ignited the sacrifice. The episode culminates with Yahweh sending rain to Israel and the murder of the priests of Baal.

Tabun

From 1930 to 1932, on Mount Carmel, Dorothy Garrod discovered Neanderthal and modern remains in the Carmel caves el-Wad, el-Tabun and es-Skhul.

In 1932, photographers and newspapers documented the discovery on Mount Carmel of a Neanderthal female skeleton, Tabun 1, one of the most important human fossils discovered so far. The Tabun excavation produced a stratigraphic record in the region spanning 600,000 years or more of human activity."

Other uses of the name

Mount Carmel is widely known as a sacred mountain, originally for the Jewish, Christian and Baha'i religions, the ancient Essenes and a place that has influenced the naming of other places, religious movements and in literature throughout the world. Some other mountains and places around the world have been called Carmel, after this biblical mountain.